Update: Pond gets new sandy bottom

Friday

Aug 10, 2012 at 12:01 AMAug 10, 2012 at 10:10 AM

After dealing with troublesome algae growth, an unusually high pH of 10 and leakage, the pond is receiving some much-needed TLC. The pond was drained last week to allow it to start afresh; this week, the town’s Department of Public Works (DPW) could be seen adding sand to the pond’s bottom.

Erin Dale

The Meetinghouse Pond is getting a makeover.

After dealing with troublesome algae growth, an unusually high pH of 10 and leakage, the pond is receiving some much-needed TLC. The pond was drained last week to allow it to start afresh; this week, the town’s Department of Public Works (DPW) could be seen adding sand to the pond’s bottom.

Students from the Cohasset Center for Coastal Research (CSCR) partnered with the Board of Health’s new Health Administrator/Inspector Felix Zemel and Acting Town Manager Michael Milanoski to explore what’s been plaguing the pond and to try to come up with solutions. At the July 31 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, a group of CSCR students presented their findings and plan to help recreate a healthy, natural pond.

Plans included draining the pond, the first step taken, then adding a sand bottom on top of the rubber membrane, which was added during last year’s renovation project. The CSCR students believe the rubber membrane could have impeded bacteria growth and created an algae-friendly environment.

The sand should act as a “breeding ground for beneficial bacteria,” Zemel said during Tuesday’s Board of Health meeting.

Once the pond has been sanded, it will be refilled with de-chlorinated tap water and the pumps will be turned on again. CSCR will continue monitoring the water quality, checking the pond bi-weekly until the water is stabilized; they hope it will be by mid-September. Once the pond is considered stable, CSCR will check on it as needed until November, or the end of the season.

“We’re hoping it will be stabilized by then,” said Zemel.

Then, the town can look into adding aquatic life; many residents recall that the pond used to have goldfish.

In a phone call Tuesday, the town manager said that he hopes to have the pond filled “by this time next week.” Milanoski said last week that he asked the Water Department to consider donating or reducing the cost of the 4,000 gallons of water needed to re-fill the pond. The town owes the water dept. an outstanding balance of $60,000 from last year.

Milanoski said that he is in the process of negotiating with the Water Commission.

“I’ve asked them to provide the water to us at their variable cost,” he explained, meaning the cost of how much electricity it costs to generate that much water, the cost of the chemicals used to treat it, and the cost of how much sludge the water generates. The incremental cost would not “have any impact to the ratepayer,” said Milanoski.

This “creates a win-win situation,” the town manager continued. “We’re just paying that variable cost; the ratepayers aren’t picking up any extra cost. That will get us through this calendar year until we figure out how we want to fill the pond, whether we dig a well or whether or not next year we purchase water through the water company as well. These are the short-term and long-term-solutions, since a well is not on the table right now.”

Adding sand this week should deter youths who have turned the empty pond into an impromptu skate park; kids could be seen this week riding their bikes and skateboards in the pond, even bringing a wooden board and creating a ramp for doing jumps.

Board of Health chair Peggy Chapman said during the board’s meeting, “Kids are going headfirst into the pond… First we had bridge-jumpers; now we have pond-jumpers.”